Talk to me about labradors..

[Stayseeliz]

We went to the humane society today and just looked. We spent some time with a 2 1/2 year old retriever mix and she was very calm and precious. We are tempted but I just don't even know how to tell if she'd be a good fit for our family.

[Pawz4me]

Ask the staff or volunteers. They're the best sources of information about the dogs in their care.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Ask if you can "foster" her for a couple of days. How dogs behave at a shelter is not always a good indicator of their personality. When our dog was in the shelter environment, he was crazy - jumping and barking non-stop - still super-sweet, but bananas. I certainly would not have thought about taking him on if we hadn't fostered him beforehand and known that wasn't how he behaved in our house (always 4 paws on the floor and hardly ever barks.) The volunteers who worked with him during his 3 days there were shocked to hear that he was relatively calm at home (despite his voracious chewing.) If you can't do that, ask if she has been observed in other environments.

[Cera]

I would definitely look for a shelter dog that is a bit older and that you can get to know before committing. Most good shelters will let you foster a dog for a few days to make sure the fit is right and if not they should at least allow you to take the dog out for walks and spend a lot of time with it one on one on the shelter property.

[Stayseeliz]

I told the worker what we were looking for and she pointed the dogs out to me. We liked this one the best. The worker I spoke to did say that she took this dogs pictures for the website and she was calm the whole time. We are going back tomorrow for DH to meet her and to spend some more time with her. I will ask about fostering or see what else they know about her. My main concern is that she'll be good the kids.

[Pawz4me]

Fostering is good, or taking her on a trial basis. But you need to do it for a minimum of two weeks to get a really good idea of her personality/temperment/energy level. Most dogs have a "honeymoon period" when coming to a new home. They feel unsure, so they're usually on their best behavior. After they start settling in and feeling comfortable you start seeing their true colors. Sometimes that can start to happen in a couple of days, sometimes it's closer to a month. Just depends on the dog. I've had a few who didn't have a honeymoon period--they were exactly themselves the moment they walked in the door. But that's not the norm. But . . . IME it's more typical for a dog who is hyper/crazy in a shelter environment to calm down once in a home setting than it is for a calm dog in a shelter to get hyper in a home. A shelter is a very stressful place for dogs. So if she's calm there, there's probably a really good chance that's her true personality.

[Stayseeliz]

We have her on a trial basis right now. Yesterday was a dream. She is very laid back and happy to be here. The only issue we had was her pulling on the leash and trying to chase animals like birds, etc on our walk last night. But she learned a good bit on the walk and was doing much better even before we got home. I researching on training her and we'll work hard on that. But so far so good.

[jenn-]

If she was picked up wandering and not a surrendered pet, she will probably be chasing animals for a long time. That's how she is used to eating. My silly dog used to hunt crickets and eat them (she's not big enough to take on a bird). I would definitely suggest the Easy Walk harness if she is pulling.

[Pawz4me]

If she's a retriever mix she's got "birdy" genes. Her instincts are telling her to go after, or do "something" with birds. Doesn't mean you can't work with it, though. Good luck!

[Stayseeliz]

She wasn't a stray. She was an outdoor dog with several other dogs and the owner listed the reason for surrender as "moving". But I'm not sure how much attention she got. We did have a small incident with the toddler a few minutes ago. DH was sitting at the computer and the toddler was in front of the dog. DH wasn't watching the toddler but the dog gave a little growl and backed away. He should have been watching them because the toddler needs to be very careful with her but he wasn't watching. Ergh. I don't think she was being overly rough with the dog but she might have been pulling on her ear etc. I'm not sure what happened. I know we need to make sure the toddler is being gentle and the dog and toddler aren't left alone together. How else do we make sure nothing else happens?

[Pawz4me]

It's simple and yet hard -- Only allow them to be together when someone is actively supervising. Remember it won't be forever. The toddler will get older and you'll figure out how trustworthy the dog really is. Personally, I wouldn't be overly concerned about the dog's behavior since you say she backed away. A growl in and of itself isn't always a bad thing. It's often simply a dog's way of saying "Hey, that hurts." A dog who growls a warning is IMO preferable to a dog who doesn't. A lot of people will correct a dog for growling, not realizing that what they're doing is taking away the dog's ability to warn, and that they very well might end up with a dog who goes right into action.

 

You might try tethering the dog when the toddler's around if your toddler understands to not invade the dog's space. Better yet, if possible use a baby gate to keep the dog in a separate area. They can still interact through/over the top of the gate, but each of them has the ability to back away.